Exodus from Egypt

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Moses leads the people of Israel through the sea - illustration from the Hortus Deliciarum by Herrad von Landsberg (around 1180)
David Roberts: The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. 1830

The Exodus from Egypt or Exodus (Latin "Exodus") is the story of the rescue of the Israelites from the slavery of Pharaoh Egypt, which can be found in the Book of Exodus in Chapters 1-15. Thus begins in the Tanakh ( the Hebrew Bible ) the special history of Israel with its God YHWH , through which he makes himself known to his people and chooses them as his covenant partner. This theological history of the origin of Israel is the central creed of Judaism .

Archaeological investigations and the lack of historical sources speak against the historicity of the extract and thus against an actual historical basis for the extract history. Historical research therefore judges large parts of the biblical Exodus story as legends , including the Ten Plagues and the Red Sea Miracle. Egyptian sources documented forced labor by Semitic nomads (called Apiru ) for building projects by pharaohs of the New Kingdom (18th to 20th Dynasty, around 1500–1000 BC) and occasional escapes by small groups of such forced laborers. Accordingly, a historical event cannot be excluded as the background to the origin of the extract myth.

The Exodus tradition shaped many traditions of the Tanakh. Greek and Roman authors of antiquity responded, sometimes with counter-narratives. It also influenced Jesus of Nazareth and his representation in the New Testament (NT). A variant of the excerpt story is handed down in the Koran in sura 7: 137–140 and 10: 89–92.

Biblical tradition

Outline I

Bible passage content
Ex 13-16 Liberation from Egypt
Ex 13.17-15.21 The rescue on the Red Sea
Ex 15.22-18.27 The preservation and probation in the desert

The story of the Exodus from Egypt is the first recorded in the Book of Exodus. It thus forms the prelude to the topic of the emergence of the people of Israel. It follows on from the fathers' stories in the book of Genesis and, with Moses, has a different subject than the previous books. After the connection to the previous fathers' stories has been established in the first chapter, the story of Moses begins in Ex 2.1-10. In the entire complex of Moses, which only ends in the book of Deuteronomy , the story of the excerpt is both the first and the basic narrative.

The representation can be broken down even more finely: After Ex 1,1-22 describes the initial situation of the oppression of the people after their growth, Ex 2,1-4,31 first introduces the figure of Moses and finally his calling the one who is to lead Israel out of Egypt and thereby liberate it. According to this mandate in Ex 5.1–6.1 he leads unsuccessful negotiations with the Pharaoh, is then called again in Ex 6.2–7.13 to a new, now violent mandate. In the following chapters Ex 7.14-10.29 the first nine plagues are presented which YHWH sends on Egypt. Ex 9-11 then describe the tenth plague with the associated establishment of the Passover in Ex 12.1.

In Ex 13 the first Passover is described, which is then followed by the actual exodus through the Red Sea in Ex 14, with which the exodus ends in the narrower sense. Rainer Albertz also counts Israel's probation in the desert and preservation from starvation by Yahweh.

Outline II

Bible passage content
Ex 1.1-2.22 Israel's oppression, Moses' rebellion
Ex 2.23-6.1 Israel's oppression, God's initiative
Ex 6.2-13.22 Israel's exodus from Egypt

Wolfgang Oswald sees different structural signals in the book itself, which result in three different structures, which suggest the representation of the authors, which together result in the above table. First of all, a chronological structure is therefore fundamental, which with Ex (2. Book of Moses) 1,6.8 names the death of the entire old generation, including the death of the Pharaoh, which enables the subsequent history of oppression. In Ex 2.23 then the pharaoh who drove out Moses dies so that his return is possible. The second important date that points beyond history is mentioned in Ex 12: Here the 15th day of the first month of the 430th year after the entry is named as the one on which Israel is led out of Egypt. The following chronological internal biblical information relates to this date, so that an end of this section can be added here.

The second structure results from topological signals that Oswald discovered at the end and at the beginning of the story. In Ex 1–4, Pitom and Ramses are named two cities (Ex 1,11) where the slaves had to work, Moses' rescue takes place on the Nile in Ex 2,3. This is followed by a change of location, initially fleeing to Midian in Ex 2.15 and finally in Ex 4.20 the return to Egypt. This topological information is only taken up again in Chapter 15: The journey through the desert begins in the Shur desert in Ex 15:22; Thereupon a series of location information names the route of the desert hike Mara in Ex 15.23, Elim Ex 15.27, the Sin desert Ex 16.1, Refidim in Ex 17.1, the mountain of God in Ex 17.1 and the Sinai desert in Ex.

Oswald finds the third breakdown in narratological signals: The greatest turning point is the Moselle song, which begins in Ex 15.1 and thus separates the present presentation from the following. This is followed in 15:22 by the Mirjamlied, which follows on from the Moselle song and thus underlines the caesura that took place before.

Text genesis

By Julius Wellhausen , the experiment was in the 19th century for the first time made the text genesis of the Pentateuch show. This represented his three-source theory, according to which the Yahwist work from the southern kingdom of the 9th century BC. BC, the Elohistic work from the northern kingdom of the 8th century BC. And the priestly script from the 6th century BC. United by various editors and thus became the Pentateuch found today. With regard to the excerpt history, however, the problem arose at the time the theory was first created that it was primarily based on the book of Genesis and was therefore only applicable to the book of Exodus to a very limited extent.

In the course of the 20th century, therefore, various modifications of this theory were made, which have in common that they assume many more layers and processing stages than Wellhausen did. These partly highly complex models are now exposed to strong criticism, which implies that a realistic detailed representation of the genesis is not possible. Following this insight, Georg Fischer and Dominik Markl, for example, try to completely dispense with a diachronic description and only interpret the final form of the text, although they also admit that this did not come from one source and that it was created in a complex, but no longer reconstructable process is.

The Exodus story at the beginning of the book of the same name was originally a self-contained and self-contained narrative act and was only brought into the context present today in the Tanach in the overall composition of the Pentateuch. After the creation of the text, it was initially expanded to include a few plagues and the two ritual practices of the Sabbath and Passover in the course of the priestly treatment and thus predated them to the early days of Israel.

Historical research

Historical Exodus research deals in particular with the question of the historicity of the Exodus narrative. This depicts mythical events and is enriched with many purely narrative elements, which is why it is by no means pure historiography . Also there was certainly no exodus from Egypt to the extent described. Nor does the narrative give a clear indication of a specific time in Egyptian history . It is therefore an almost inconceivable event for historians .

The extent to which “biblical” Israel corresponds to a historical Israel of the pre-exilic period (before 597 BC) is difficult to answer in view of the problematic source situation and is extremely controversial in research. On the one hand there are researchers who defend the historicity of Israel's exodus from Egypt, at least in its basic features, on the other hand there are those who more or less radically deny the historicity of the Exodus and relegate the described events to the area of ​​myth formation of later epochs.

Various researchers assume that the Exodus narrative is not tailored to a specific historical situation, but grew out of a long history of Israeli experience. The resulting openness of the narrative should enable the Israelite descendants to be able to equate “the pharaoh” with the currently threatening potentates again and again in changing political situations, be it the Egyptian pharaohs such as Ramses II , Merenptah or Ramses III. , their own kings like Solomon and Ahab or the Assyrian and Babylonian foreign rulers like Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar II.

Jan Assmann coined the memory-historical approach , which no longer asks “how it actually was”, but rather how it was remembered. The Exodus story is likely to have been linked to various historical memories, for example of the Hyksos , of the Egyptian colonial rule in Canaan during the late Bronze Age , of the Apiru group and of migrations during the Sea Peoples' era.

Theological Aspects

"The Exodus from Egypt is one of the most elementary and most frequently repeated beliefs in the OT."

The most important elements of this belief are the conviction of going up, the oldest evidence of which is in 1 Kings 12.28  EU , from the lower land of Egypt to the mountainous land of Israel, and the motif of leading out, originating from the Deuteronomic theology, oldest evidence in Num 26, 17–19  EU , which interprets the exodus as “the violent act of liberation from the 'slave house'”. As a result of this forcible removal, the promise of YHWH is seen accordingly, to see the people of Israel as his people and to conclude a covenant with them.

In the exilic and post-exilic period, new linguistic forms of description of this covenant were sought due to the changed circumstances and terms from commercial law such as buy / acquire were used. Israel is thus viewed as "property people" or "inheritance". In connection with this, the exodus that has already happened is used as a interpretive category for the hoped-for liberation from exile in Isa 40–55  EU or Ez 20  EU .

For Christians at this point the recurring motif of "salvation through the water" is important. As before with Noah and later with baptism, the water kills the bad (sinful humanity, the attacking Egyptians, or the old sinful man), while the good (Noah with family, the people of Israel, or the believer, who is born again of the water and the Spirit) experiences divine salvation.

Extra-biblical reception

Diodor

The oldest known extra-biblical mention of the Exodus is a text quoted by Diodorus Siculus from the Aigyptiacs of Hekataios of Abdera (approx. 300 BC). The fragment refers to the xenophobia that the Jews suffered in Egypt: This was caused by a plague epidemic, which all foreigners were driven out of the country to avert. The majority of the displaced had joined Moses and followed him.

Another allusion to the Exodus, which has been handed down by Diodorus Siculus, goes back to the philosopher and historian Poseidonios (end of the 2nd century BC). It is one of the arguments that the counselors of Antiochus Euergetes are said to have used to keep the king from negotiating with the Jews: The Jews were originally driven out of Egypt because they were "wicked", "the gods hated" people. In order to purify the land, the Egyptians gathered all the people "covered with lichen and leprosy" and drove them across the borders. This is how the Jewish “nation” came into being in and around Jerusalem.

Flavius ​​Josephus

Texts quoted by Flavius ​​Josephus in On the Originality of Judaism are traced back to Manethos Aegyptiaca . The anti-Jewish attitudes assigned in the process can for the most part no longer be maintained due to the consideration of all text witnesses. Those anti-Jewish tendencies have their roots mainly in post-processing by unknown authors that flowed into historical original sources or as independent pseudo-works increasingly emerged in Roman times. For example, on the basis of post-processed sources, a pharaoh named Amenophis , who wanted to please the gods (“he wanted to be a spectator of the gods”), on the advice of a priest, is said to be the “lepers” and “unclean” - 80,000 in number (1, 235) - rounded up from Egypt and forced to work in the quarries. The "lepers" had chosen Osarseph (or Osarsiph), a priest from Heliopolis, as their leader, who, among other things, had forbidden them to worship the gods. With the help of the Hyksos who were called back to Egypt, they would have tyrannized the country for thirteen years.

According to the statement of Manetho quoted by him, Flavius ​​Josephus reports that the Hyksos were subdued by Kamose (Alisphragmuthosis) and driven to Auaris . Many years later, the Egyptians waged a long-running war against the Hyksos. Finally, an Egyptian army besieged the Hyksos in their capital Auaris, which is why the Hyksos agreed to the Egyptian offer of the king “ Tethmosis ” to leave Egypt with their families and belongings. After the departure of the Hyksos, the Egyptian king Ahmose I ruled for another 25 years and four months before he died.

The excerpt is dated similarly in the other Manetho traditions. Eusebius equated the exodus of the Hyksos with the Israelites and dated it to the time of Akhenaten : around this time Moses led the Jews on their march out of Egypt . Georgios Synkellos comments on this statement: Eusebius is the only one who puts the migration from Israel under Moses into this time, although he has no supporting arguments for it. He also testifies that his predecessors took a different view . In the Armenian version of Eusebius it says in a similar form: Anchencheres (12th king of the 18th dynasty). In his day, Moses was the leader of the Hebrews in their exodus from Egypt .

Josephus also cites the Egyptian story of Chairemon, which contains essentially the same narrative by Manetho but gives different circumstances to start with. Amenhotep selected and expelled 250,000 of the “lepers”. In Pelusium, they joined forces with another 380,000 who had not been admitted to Egypt: together they returned and defeated Amenhotep.

Probably not independent of the quote ascribed to Manetho is a text that Josephus quotes and ascribes to the Alexandrian Lysimachos (1st century BC). Accordingly, the "people afflicted with leprosy ... and other diseases" of the Jews begged in the temples at the time of Pharaoh Bokchoris and thereby spread diseases. At the behest of an oracle, the temples were "cleaned" and the "unclean" were partly drowned and partly abandoned in the desert. There she gathered Moses and "abused people and plundered temples" and brought him to Judea.

In his Egyptian history , which has not survived , the Alexandrian Apion adds his own details to the legend about the origin of the Jews. The text quoted by Josephus says that the Jews were originally the "scum" of the Egyptian race, afflicted with "leprosy" and all sorts of blemishes. That is why they were expelled from Egypt and that happened in the first year of the 7th Olympiad (752 BC). According to Apion, the Jewish sabbath rest also had its origin in this expulsion: After a six-day march, the Jews had pain in the groin and were therefore forced to rest and called this day sabbat from sabbô , the Egyptian name for those they suffered Complaints.

Strabo

On the other hand, Strabo's notes of the exodus are free of defamatory intentions . According to Strabo, Moses, who was an Egyptian priest, led crowds out of Egypt because he detested the worship of idols or statues of gods. In the course of this emigration, the new nation of Israel emerged without violence, solely through the teachings of Moses and the voluntary union of neighboring peoples.

Evaluation of the sources

Stories that mention leprosy, plague and the like in relation to the Exodus were handed down into the 2nd century AD and further supplemented by the respective authors: Even in Tacitus' Historiae they are referred to as the "story" of the origin of the Jewish Volks specified and used to justify and spread anti-Jewish agitation.

The historians of Hellenism named as text witnesses in the work of Flavius ​​Josephus and the anti-Judaistic attitudes assigned to them can for the most part no longer be maintained due to the consideration of all text witnesses. Those anti-Judaistic tendencies mostly have their roots in post-processing by unknown authors that flowed into historical original sources or as independent pseudo-works increasingly emerged in Roman times.

Significance for Judaism

The eight-day Passover festival commemorates the Israelites' exodus from Egypt .

Artistic reception

Visual arts

Many paintings in art history depict individual scenes from the Exodus narrative, for example some of Raphael's frescoes and Marc Chagall's Exodus cycle .

music

Georg Friedrich Handel composed the oratorio Israel in Egypt , which was first performed in London in 1739.

One of Gioachino Rossini's most popular operas was Mosè in Egitto , which premiered in Naples in 1818 and converted into a French Grand opéra Moïse et Pharaon for Paris in 1827 . The highlight is the finale with a famous prayer Dal tuo stellato soglio and the passage through the Red Sea.

The Negro Spiritual Go down Moses was created around 1860 . In the era of abolitionism, it addresses the hope of African Americans in the USA for an end to their slavery.

Arnold Schönberg composed the unfinished opera Moses und Aron between 1928 and 1937 , which takes up some aspects of the Exodus story but leaves out the plagues, Passover and sea wonders.

Bob Marley released his legendary reggae album Exodus in 1977 , which contains a song of the same name and also represents the Rastafarian religion in Jamaica.

Some German-language New Spiritual Songs deal with the Exodus theme.

Movies

literature

Bible exegesis

  • Christoph Berner : The Exodus Tale: The literary becoming of an original legend of Israel. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2010, ISBN 3-16-150542-5 .
  • Rainer Albertz : Exodus 1–18 . In: Zurcher Biblical Commentaries Old Testament . 1st edition. Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2012, ISBN 978-3-290-17642-6 , p. 20 .
  • Jan Christian Gertz : Tradition and editing in the Exodus story: Investigations into the final editing of the Pentateuch. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, ISBN 3-525-53870-7 .
  • Pekka Särkio: Exodus and Solomon: Considerations on the hidden criticism of Solomon based on Ex. 1–2, 5, 14 and 32. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-525-53648-8 .
  • Helmut Utzschneider : God's staying power. The Exodus story (Ex 1–14) from an aesthetic and historical perspective. Katholisches Bibelwerk, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-460-04661-9 .
  • Werner H. Schmidt : Exodus: Biblical Commentary. Volume 2: Ex 7-24. Neukirchener Verlag, Neuenkirchen-Vluyn, ISBN 3-7887-1455-7 .
  • Werner H. Schmidt: Exodus, Sinai and Mose. Considerations on Ex. 1-19 and 24. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1983, ISBN 3-534-08779-8 .
  • Martin Noth : The second book of Moses (Exodus). (1958) 8th unchanged edition, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1988, ISBN 3-525-51115-9 .
  • Manfred Görg : expulsion or liberation? New perspectives on the so-called exodus. In: Kairos: Journal for Jewish Studies and Religious Studies. Volume 20, 1978, pp. 272-280.
  • Peter Weimar, Erich Zenger : Exodus: Stories and History of the Liberation of Israel. KBW Verlag, Stuttgart 1975, ISBN 978-3-460-03751-9 .

Historical research

  • Wolfgang Oswald : Extract from the vassal: The Exodus story (Ex 1–14) and ancient international law. In: Theological Journal. Volume 67, Issue 3, Basel 2011, pp. 263–288.
  • Michael D. Oblath: The Exodus Itinerary Sites: Their Locations from the Perspective of the Biblical Sources. Peter Lang, New York 2004, ISBN 0-8204-6716-2 .
  • Herbert Donner : History of the people of Israel and its neighbors in outline, Volume 1: From the beginnings to the formation of states. 3rd, revised and supplemented edition, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000–2001, ISBN 3-525-51679-7 .
  • James K. Hoffmeier : Israel in Egypt. The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-509715-7 ( excerpt online ).
  • Marc Vervenne : Studies in the Book of Exodus: Redaction, Reception, Interpretation. Peeters, Leuven 1996, ISBN 90-6831-825-X .
  • Marc Vervenne: Exodus Expulsion and Exodus Flight: The Interpretation of a Crux Critically Examined. In: Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages. (JNSL) Vol. 22, 1996, pp. 45-58.
  • Gordon F. Davies: Israel in Egypt. Reading Exodus 1-2. Bloomsbury Publishing, London 1992, ISBN 0-567-59988-4 .
  • Samuel E. Loewenstamm: The Evolution of the Exodus Tradition. Magnes Press, Hebrew University, 1992, ISBN 965-223-784-1 .
  • Martin Noth : History of Israel. 10th edition, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1986, ISBN 3-525-52120-0 .

See also the relevant section in the main article: Historical Exodus Research

archeology

  • Israel Finkelstein , Amihai Mazar : The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archeology and the History of Early Israel. Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta GA 2007, ISBN 1-58983-277-9 .
  • John J. Bimson: Moving Out and Landing - Myth or Reality? In: Peter van der Veen, Uwe Zerbst (Ed.): Biblical Archeology at the Crossroads? Pros and cons of re-dating archaeological epochs in Old Testament Palestine. (1988) 2nd edition, Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 2003, ISBN 3-7751-3851-X , pp. 395-414.
  • Ernest S. Frerichs, Leonard H. Lesko, William G. Dever (Eds.): Exodus: The Egyptian Evidence. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake IN 1997, ISBN 1-57506-025-6 .

See also the relevant section in the main article: Historical Exodus Research

reception

  • Margaret King: The exodus in the Quran. Susiana Press, Woodlands TX 2007, ISBN 0-9790351-2-0 .
  • Martin Hasitschka : Egypt in the New Testament. A biblical theological sketch. In: Protocols to the Bible. (PzB) Vol. 10, 2001, pp. 75-83.
  • Georg Fischer , Manfred Görg : Moses and the Exodus from an Egyptian perspective. In: Mose: Egypt and the Old Testament. Katholisches Bibelwerk, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-460-04891-3 , p. 124 ff.
  • Peter Schäfer : Expulsion from Egypt. In: Peter Schäfer: Judeophobia: Attitudes toward the Jews in the Ancient World. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MASS 1998, ISBN 0-674-48778-8 , pp. 15-33.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rainer Albertz: Exodus 1-18. In: R. Albertz: Exodus (= Zurich Bible Commentaries. AT; 2., 2.2). Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2012, ISBN 978-3-290-17642-6 , p. 11.
  2. a b c Rainer Albertz: Exodus 1–18. Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2012, p. 12.
  3. ^ Rainer Albertz: Exodus 1–18 Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2012, pp. 6–7.
  4. ^ Rainer Albertz: Exodus 1-18. Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2012, p. 11f.
  5. Wolfgang Oswald:  Exodus book. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (eds.): The scientific biblical dictionary on the Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff., Accessed on March 3, 2016.
  6. ^ Rainer Albertz: Exodus 1-18. Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2012, Zurich 2012, p. 19.
  7. Helmut Utzschneider, Wolfgang Oswald: Exodus 1–15 (= international exegetical commentary on the Old Testament. Vol. 2,1). Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-17-022222-9 , p. 19.
  8. Georg Fischer, Dominik Markl: The book Exodus. Stuttgart 2009, p. 24.
  9. Georg Fischer, Dominik Markl: The book Exodus (= New Stuttgart Commentary. Old Testament. Vol. 2). Katholisches Bibelwerk, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-460-07021-9 , p. 24.
  10. ^ Rainer Albertz: Exodus 1-18. Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2012, p. 20.
  11. ^ Rainer Albertz: Exodus 1-18. Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2012, p. 21.
  12. Erich Zenger: Exodus tradition, theological aspects. In: Religion Past and Present. Volume 2, 4th, completely revised edition, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 1999, ISBN 978-3-16-146942-8 , column 1826–1827, here: 1826.
  13. E. Zenger: Exodus tradition, theological aspects. In: Religion Past and Present. Volume 2, Tübingen 1999, column 1826-1827, here: 1826.
  14. ↑ e.g. in Dtn 7.8  EU
  15. E. Zenger: Exodus tradition, theological aspects. In: Religion Past and Present. Volume 2, Tübingen 1999, Sp. 1826-1827, here: 1826.
  16. ^ Diodor , Bibliothéke historiké. 40.3.1-8
  17. ^ Diodor, Bibliothéke historiké. 34 / 35,1,1-2
  18. Flavius ​​Josephus , On the Originalness of Judaism Volume 1, pp. 227-254.
  19. Flavius ​​Josephus: About the originality of Judaism. Volume 1, pp. 227–250 (Eng.)
  20. The terms anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic , used anachronistically in the German-speaking area and by non-Jewish people , were first introduced by Wilhelm Marr in 1879 and 1880 .
  21. Flavius ​​Josephus: About the originality of Judaism. Volume 2, pp. 43-44.
  22. Flavius ​​Josephus: About the originality of Judaism. Volume 2, pp. 112-114.
  23. Flavius ​​Josephus: About the originality of Judaism. Volume 1, p. 94.
  24. ^ Flavius ​​Josephus: The new complete works of Josephus. Translated by William Whiston . Commentary by Paul L. Maier. Revised and expanded edition, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids MI 1999, ISBN 0-8254-2924-2 , pp. 942-943.
  25. ^ Waddell flat share: Manetho. P. 115.
  26. ^ Waddell flat share: Manetho. P. 119.
  27. Flavius ​​Josephus: About the originality of Judaism. Volume 1, pp. 288-292.
  28. Flavius ​​Josephus: About the originality of Judaism. Volume 1, pp. 288ff. (engl.)
  29. Flavius ​​Josephus: About the originality of Judaism. Volume 1, pp. 304-311.
  30. Flavius ​​Josephus: About the originality of Judaism. Volume 1, pp. 304-311 (Eng.)
  31. Flavius ​​Josephus: About the originality of Judaism. Volume 2, pp. 8-27.
  32. Flavius ​​Josephus: About the originality of Judaism. Volume 2, p. 8ff. (engl.)
  33. Strabon , Geographica XVI, II, 35–36.
  34. ^ The Geography of Strabo. Book XVI, Chapter 2 . (Eng.) On: penelope.uchicago.edu  ; last accessed on June 20, 2014.
  35. ^ Tacitus , Historiae V, 2ff. ( Hist. V, 2 )
  36. ^ Tacitus, Historiae V, 5 ( Hist. V, 5 [Eng.])
  37. Flavius ​​Josephus: About the originality of Judaism. Volume 2, pp. 43-44.
  38. ^ Heinrich Krauss, Eva Uthemann: What pictures tell: The classic stories from antiquity and Christianity in occidental painting. 2011, pp. 206-208.
  39. Hans Joachim Marx (Ed.): Handel's oratorios, odes and serenatas. A compendium. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-525-27815-2 , p. 98.
  40. ^ Charlotte M. Cross: Political and Religious Ideas in the Works of Arnold Schoenberg. Garland Publishing, 1999, p. 184.
  41. ^ Vivien Goldman, The Book of Exodus: The Making and Meaning of Bob Marley and the Wailers' Album of the Century. Crown Archetype, 2007, ISBN 1-4000-5286-6 .